Take this with a large grain of salt as it's just a rumor at this point, but one of our sources very close to the Android core who has been testing and working with Gingerbread for quite a while recently shared a little tidbit of info. According to the source, we won't have to wonder what exactly Gingerbread, the next Android OS, is going to bring to the table for too long because the Gingerbread SDK is going to go public next week.

Getting access to the latest revision of the Android SDK means we'll find out all the new API calls showing new OS functionality and, more importantly, will have access to the latest emulator showing exactly what the stock Android Gbread will look like. What we probably won't have yet is the source code, because AOSP (Android Open Source Project) code typically trails the SDK release by a few weeks.

The source didn't specify whether the version number is going to be 2.5 or 3.0, but I suppose we'll see very soon.

That is all I can share publicly for now and, of course, a rumor will stay a rumor until it's either refuted or confirmed but all I can say is I don't see any reason for the source to lie or be unreliable. Of course, we also can't predict Google changing the schedule for whatever reason, but the rumor definitely has legs.

Froyo was announced May 20th of this year, and by the time next week rolls around, about 5 months would have passed. Android is still technically supposed to be on a 6-month release cycle, but considering it takes a while to get everyone going on a new OS iteration, including both manufacturers and developers, I wouldn't be surprised if Google indeed decided to fast track Gbread. Throw in the upcoming holiday season and the fact that Gingerbread may be vital to having a better experience on Android tablets, and we have ourselves the perfect storm.

Crossing my fingers here - how about you?